Is Everyone An Aspiring Writer?

Have you noticed that “aspiring author” or “aspiring writer” is written in every Twitter bio, Facebook description, and Blogger about me section nowadays?

In all actuality, I hear “aspiring writer” more often than “aspiring author” in daily conversation, which has thrown me through a loop recently. An aspiring author is a person who directs one’s ambitions toward becoming a writer of a book, article, or report. I don’t have a problem with that phrase. The beef I have is with the combination of these two words: aspiring + writer. If you think of the general definition, it would be a person who directs one’s ambitions toward writing. But wait. Who wants to be an aspiring writer when you could – oh I don’t know – be a writer?!

The word aspiring only works when one describes themselves as an aspiring author, and I’m talking about publishing books not publishing blog posts. For example, I can easily publish a blog post and people know I’m the author. It’s a different story when I talk about writing a fantastical novel in the hopes of becoming traditionally published and known as an author by millions. Yep. Those are the two best examples I can give in order to explain authorial range.

I hate it when people call themselves aspiring writers. You are either writing or you’re not. Put your pen, pencil, or keyboard to work with your thoughts in tow and just freaking write – because then, you can call yourself a legitimate writer and leave that bogus “aspiring” mumbo jumbo behind.

As much as I urge everyone to adhere to the previously stated advice, although seemingly minimal, I have my own confession to make. I don’t refer to myself as any of the above. I don’t put myself in the category of aspiring authors – and as hypocritical as it sounds – the only category I fit in the majority of the time is aspiring writers. Truthfully, as many of my English majoring friends would know, writing is hard. Brainstorming unique ideas is hard. Outlining an entire storyline is hard.

For whatever reason, the most difficult part of being a writer for me personally, is getting the damn words written. I am a perfectionist when it comes to the dialogue, characters, and plot points that float around in my head. I’ve heard on numerous occasions that writers need to get the words said before editing. People like me write when small tidbits of inspiration strike, then slowly we crawl back into our shells where no writing occurs, only sheer thought. I know that it’s a poor way of writing and it’s highly ineffective. I aspire to write these grandiose tales but they never get written which is why I am far from being an aspiring author. It may be a wild dream of mine to become an established author, but at the rate I’m going, I won’t make it through the first draft.

I think most of the inspiration for this post came from my own inner bossy pants, yelling at myself to read and write more. I won’t call myself an aspiring author because I haven’t put in nearly enough effort to be classified under such a respectable title; but I also refuse to call myself an aspiring writer because that’s more of a cop out than anything. I know for a fact that there are people who can relate to my situation, throwing pity parties for ourselves when we should be planning, plotting, and producing stories. If you want to be a writer, be a writer – don’t accept anything less or half assed.

time to talk...

Have you ever put any thought into what it truly means to be an aspiring author or writer? Do you consider yourself a writer?!! What sets writers apart from aspiring writers? Do you have any advice that has worked to motivate yourself throughout the gruesome writing process? Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below! I would love to discuss this further!

You may also like:

6 comments on Is Everyone An Aspiring Writer?

Oh this is so true! I never really thought about it, but yeah - either you are, or you aren't. It's possible to be an aspiring published writer, etc. but you can always just write - there isn't such a thing as an "aspiring author"! I'm the same - absolute perfectionist. Sometimes I'll leave a section alone and then never come back to it...just because I can't find the words for it :/ STILL - WE MUST KEEP WRITING! Geraldine @ Corralling Books

Right?! I don't want people who call themselves "aspiring writers" to feel bad, but if you're WRITING, then you truly are a writer - nothing "aspiring" about it!

But yesss, I'm glad I'm not alone in this uphill battle called writing. It can feel gruesome sometimes, especially when I'm stumped by a certain scene or section...the words just don't want to word properly some days. ALAS, I AGREE THOUGH - WE MUST KEEP WRITING!!!

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts Geraldine!

HI! I just discovered your blog and can I just say ITS LITERALLY SO PRETTY OMG. The layout is awesomee! (Followed ya on google ;) Onto this post though, it kind of annoys me how everyone these days labels themselves as an "aspiring writer" I'm like, okAY I think I got it!! Go WRITE then!! I would say people should label themself as "aspiring authors" when they are in the process of attempting to get published. I just feel that's a more appropriate time for the label, but IDK, just my opinion.

Hey Sam, OMG thank you so much! I've worked really hard (with some much needed help from the best people of EVER) to get my blog to look the way it does, so that means a lot to me.

I'm glad you stopped by because it looks like we COMPLETELY agree on this topic! Haha even if we didn't, that would be perfectly fine. But I'm glad we do! I just think people need to quit bullshitting themselves with the title "aspiring writer" or really own up to being a badass writer in general. There really isn't much of an in-between.

I agree with your explanation that "aspiring author" is a good way of describing what you are when you're in the process of attempting to get published, especially since that would mean people already recognize themselves as writers at that point in time.

Whenever I get my ass in gear and continue to post more content, PLEASE feel free to stop by again and share more of your thoughts/opinions. They're very much valued and appreciated! And thank you for leaving such a thoughtful comment.

Hahah I have never labeled myself as an "aspiring" writer, or a writer in general, unless we're talking about research papers and the likes. But you've brought up a really good point. If you are writing, then aren't you a writer?

I also have the same problem with getting the words onto paper. English isn't my first language, so I have such a hard time with prepositions, idioms (which is why I will never use them), and just forming sentences in general. Writing is such a chore for me, so I kind of just....don't do it creatively aha.

I get how bad it feels to want something for yourself and work really had at it while other people throw around goals but don't truly work towards them or take them for granted. That was really wordy, but hopefully it made sense. I feel that way about writing sometimes too, but I feel like in the blogger community, most people are actually taking steps in the direction of their dreams. Part of what I love about it is that the book blogger community understands what you're going through in your novel right now. Many of them are here because they love the literary world and want to be a part of it in the future, and book blogging is the most widely accessible way to do that.

Perfectionism can be crippling at times, but maybe you just need to sit down and get the words in. I struggle with that too. One thing that was really helpful for me was jotting down a lot of notes about my novel and plotting it out using Save the Cat Beat Sheet structure, so you could look into that. :) Best of luck with your writing, and interesting discussion post!